How to Harness The Power of Outdoor Kiosks

The digital signage landscape is rapidly evolving, and business owners recognize that there is so much potential to unlock in digital signage solutions, including outdoor kiosks. Indeed, digital signage in public has a more extensive reach, capturing the attention of up to 10% of American residents.

Read on for a breakdown of what an outdoor kiosk is, the best features to consider in kiosk design, and what benefits you can look forward to. As a business that is no doubt looking to maximize your return on investment, find out how you can overcome potential challenges and get the most from your outdoor kiosk.

What Are Outdoor Kiosks?

An outdoor kiosk is a self-standing unit comprising an enclosure that houses a touchscreen solution that displays digital content. Unlike their indoor counterparts, outdoor kiosks are designed for use outside the walls of a business.

What Are They Used For?

Outdoor kiosks are highly versatile tools that allow businesses across various sectors to engage with customers. Here is a look at the top use cases for these revolutionary self-service solutions.

• Advertising

Outdoor kiosks make excellent advertising platforms. They display eye-catching and dynamic content that will capture passersby’s attention. Engaging content that informs, adds value, and entertains will boost customer engagement and drive sales.

Strategically placing the outdoor kiosks in high-traffic areas maximizes their potential as an advertising tool. Such areas include parking lots, transportation hubs, and event venues. Businesses can showcase their offerings in a dynamic way, and event organizers can promote upcoming events.

• Information Points

An outdoor kiosk uses self-service and touchscreen technologies to deliver an intuitive interface that allows users to access information quickly and conveniently. In addition to content around a business’ offerings, you can integrate features such as RSS feeds and weather alerts so users can enjoy access to pertinent real-time updates. Similarly, displaying information on emergency procedures will help promote public safety.

• Wayfinding

An outdoor kiosk serves as a navigation tool to help users find their way around. Users can browse the directory, search for or choose a place to get and get route information.

Interactive maps on an outdoor kiosk are especially helpful and make it possible for even first-time visitors to have a pleasant experience. Whether it’s a new student finding their way on campus or a tourist exploring a new establishment, outdoor kiosks make navigation easier. In fact, 43% of universities and colleges with outdoor kiosks and other digital signage solutions use them for wayfinding.

Design and Build Considerations

The fact that outdoor kiosks are to be used outside requires that business owners look out for specific features. Top among the design and build considerations for outdoor interactive displays are as follows.

• IP Rating

The IP rating of an outdoor kiosk shows its effectiveness in blocking out liquids, moisture, and dust. A weather-resistant kiosk suited for outdoor use is one with a good IP rating. For example, an IP 55-rated kiosk has excellent dust and water protection.

• Brightness Capabilities

Outdoor interactive displays must counteract the sunlight hitting the kiosks as well as ambient lighting in order to keep the displayed content readable. For this reason, display brightness on outdoor kiosks is usually higher than on indoor kiosks. That said, a display that’s too bright can be just uncomfortable to read from at night and on cloudy days.

Consequently, the best kiosk design includes adjustable display brightness. The kiosk’s display adjusts its brightness automatically based on the ambient brightness, appearing brighter during the day and dimmer at night.

• Anti-Glare Protection

The interactive displays in digital kiosks are made of transparent plastic or glass. Both are highly reflective surfaces and can cause glare when the sun’s rays hit the screen. Glare affects readability and can hurt users’ eyes. An important design consideration to counteract these effects is using anti-glare glass for outdoor kiosk screens.

• HVAC Requirements

The size of the outdoor kiosk and installation location are among the top factors that influence the HVAC requirements of an outdoor kiosk. Based on these factors, humidity and temperature control may be critical. Incorporating HVAC requirements into the kiosk design ensures there’s a regulated environment that is comfortable for users and extends the life of the kiosk.  

• Robust Security System

Vandalism and theft are the most significant physical security threats for outdoor kiosk owners. The safest option is a kiosk design that includes a remote monitoring system working in tandem with an alarm system. The owner gets an instant notification whenever there is any suspicious activity.

Similarly, the kiosk provider should provide a robust security system that protects the outdoor kiosk against cybersecurity attacks such as hacking.

Overcoming the Environmental Challenges

Outdoor kiosks are exposed to a myriad of environmental conditions, from sunlight, wind, and rain to temperature fluctuations. Overcoming the challenges these environmental conditions present lies in carefully selecting the outdoor kiosk.

Business owners must choose kiosks that are specifically designed for outdoor use. As has been noted, there are several features that will make an outdoor kiosk withstand these environmental conditions. Weatherproof enclosures, HVAC systems, and anti-glare screens are top on the list.

Choosing a weather-resistant kiosk with the right features ensures optimal performance in all weather conditions. It also ensures the durability, and longevity of the kiosk.

Benefits of Outdoor Kiosks

Outdoor kiosks offer a way for customers to interact with businesses in a meaningful way. Digital kiosk benefits to expect from the outdoor type are as discussed below.

• Increased Customer Engagement

As self-service solutions, outdoor kiosks drive customer engagement. Users will interact with your business through the digital kiosk to access information about your offerings, how to navigate through your establishment, and more.

• No Downtime

Customers can only use indoor kiosks during regular business hours. On the other hand, outdoor kiosks run uninterrupted 24/7. No downtime means you can advertise your business and let passersby access information long before and after you open the doors to your business.

• Capitalizing on High-Traffic Areas

Not everyone will walk into your store, but you can reach a bigger audience with an outdoor kiosk when you strategically place it in a high-traffic area. The target audience need not go out of their way to interact with your business, but the impact on lead generation will be significant. Humans, on average, have an 8-second attention span, and with captivating content on your outdoor kiosk, that is more than enough time to generate prospects in these high-traffic areas.

• Multiple Messages

Outdoor interactive displays can be very versatile and flexible. With professional content management services, you can leverage a single outdoor kiosk to display multiple messages and serve different functions. When users aren’t using it as a public information kiosk, you can display dynamic digital marketing messages to boost your sales.

Capitalize Outdoor Kiosks Today

Outdoor kiosks, which are expected to experience one of the fastest CAGR in the kiosk market, can transform the way customers access information and services in public services. With due consideration to the kiosk design and best practices for these self-service solutions, an outdoor kiosk can boost your brand visibility and customer interactivity and, ultimately, drive foot traffic into your business.